It is common practice to change the position of the rear wheels on the trailer of a tractor trailer, so that the front and rear trailer wheels are spaced equidistant from the centre of gravity of the load and trailer, or for facilitating unloading of the trailer by tilting its rear end downwardly. For such purpose, the rear wheels are mounted on a bogie which is slidably mounted on rails connected to the base of the trailer. The bogie is maintained in position by pins extending transversely from the bogie into holes in the rails. In order to re-position the rear trailer wheels, the usual practice is to remove the pins from the holes and then back the trailer into a solid object which is below the level of the base of the trailer. As a result, the wheels are pushed forward, and, when they reach the desired position, the wheel bogies are re-pinned to lock them in such position. Unfortunately, such usual method of re-positioning the wheels leaves a lot to be desired. The repeated bumping and banging of the trailer may lead to damage to the trailer and its contents.
An alternative manner of re-positioning the trailer wheels is disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 3,303,950 which issued to Ronald K. Jones on Feb. 14, 1967. The Jones patent discloses an apparatus including a jack on each side of the rear end of the trailer, and a sprocket/chain drive connected to the rear wheel bogie for moving the bogie and rear wheels longitudinally of the trailer once the rear end of the trailer has been raised by means of the jacks. The Jones' apparatus is somewhat complicated, relying on a pair of jacks which occupy space in the rear of the trailer, and motor and pump units for driving the jacks and sprocket/chain drive. Moreover, use of the Jones' apparatus is time consuming, because it is necessary to raise the rear end of the trailer before the rear wheels can be moved.
Thus, it is readily apparent that there is a need for an apparatus or device for facilitating re-positioning of the rear wheels of the trailer of a tractor trailer unit. The object of the present invention is to provide a relatively simple bogie slide device which meets such need.